


A Memory Long Ago

by DreaminginCabeswater



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Brotp, Christmas, Christmas Tree, Established Relationship, F/M, Holidays, M/M, Name-Calling, pynch - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 15:15:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5631196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreaminginCabeswater/pseuds/DreaminginCabeswater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronan Lynch is dead set against decorating Monmouth Manufacturing for the holidays, but Gansey isn't letting him get his way. It's up to Blue to make sure the job gets done.<br/>Bronan (Brotp) fluff!</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Memory Long Ago

**Author's Note:**

> I have crawled out of my hole of writing exile to bring this Christmas with the Raven Gang fic. I wrote this for my TRC SS on Tumblr, Fandomswithcookies, (SORRY IT WAS SO LATE!) because she loves Blue/Ronan's Brotp as much as I do. I hope you enjoy this story. 
> 
> The Raven Cycle Characters do not belong to me.

The monstrosity towered toward the ceiling of Monmouth Manufacturing casting an ominous shadow over Ronan Lynch.

“The fuck?” Ronan muttered, his face twisting into disgust, still unable to tear his eyes away from the massive Christmas tree standing before him. It had to be at least ten-feet tall. Ronan squinted, observing the eye-sore before him. Each branch pruned meticulously, not a deep green needle out of place. The strong aroma of Virginia pine threatening to choke him.

Ronan sighed. This had to be Gansey’s idea. No other person in their right mind would bring such an extravagant thing into their home. 

From behind Ronan, the door opened and slammed shut. He pulled his eyes away from the tree long enough to see a blur of brown moving boxes overflowing with strands of sparkling beads and colorful fabrics. Red and green bags hung from arms hugging boxes, and Gansey and Adam’s eyes peering over each stack. Between them shuffled a smaller figure. A stack of boxes with legs clad in torn and feathered red tights, which Ronan presumed to be Blue. 

“Just in time, Ronan. Could you help Blue with her boxes?” Gansey asked, his voice even and calm, even as he shifted to place the boxes on the floor. 

Ronan didn’t move. 

“What is that?” Ronan jutted a thumb behind him, clearly irritated. 

“Ronan, help Blue,” Gansey said once again more sternly.

Ronan smirked. “Huh. Looks like Maggot has it all worked out.” 

Blue, having already placed her boxes against Gansey’s bed, sat atop the boxes, a Santa hat on her head, swinging her legs, a defiant smile on her face like she just won a gold medal in the Olympics. 

“I told you,” Blue said. 

Gansey shook his head. “Yes, Jane, you did tell me, but I wish you would let us help you with the heavy lifting.”  
Blue’s victorious smile turned into a vicious scowl, and Ronan turned away just in time to avoid the beginning of the argument. 

“If you’re not going to help Blue, I could use some help,” Adam said, struggling to balance the boxes and bags as he shifted them to the floor.

Ronan took two boxes from Adam’s stack and placed them on the couch. 

“Why did you let him talk you into this?” Ronan asked Adam. “I thought you were against this as much as me.” 

Each year, Gansey had tried to persuade Ronan into letting them decorate Monmouth for the holidays, and each year Ronan replied the same: “Hell fucking no.” This year, Ronan had been sitting on the couch next to Adam, when Gansey asked. He only stuck his middle finger up behind him and continued watching TV, Adam chuckling. 

Ronan didn’t have anything against the holidays, it was his favorite time of year, but with the holidays came a flood of memories, many much too painful to relive and he preferred they stay buried. 

“Hey. Don’t look at me, Lynch.” Adam slid the bags off his arm onto Gansey’s desk. “I don’t live here.”

Ronan rolled his eyes. “But you’re supposed to have my back here, Parrish.”

“Is that so?” Adam smiled sweetly and pulled a tangled mess of gold garland from one of the boxes. “I guess that was something we should have discussed before we started dating.”

Ronan narrowed his eyes. “If I remember correctly, you told me to shut up and-”

“Okay. Okay.” Adam held up his hands as if surrendering, his blue eyes wide. “Can’t you just deal with it for the time being? It took like 10 men to get that tree in here.” 

Ronan crossed his arms across his chest, his black sweater riding up, exposing his skin to the chilly air in the room. He leaned across the back of the couch watching the others pull out ornaments and garland and delicate decorations that looked more at home in the Gansey Estate than Monmouth. 

As a child, Christmas at the Barns was magical. Niall would pass around steaming mugs of hot chocolate piled high with fluffy marshmallows as Aurora softly sang Christmas carols in the fuzzy candle light, Matthew in her lap and Declan and Ronan nuzzled under her arms. The shadows from the fireplace dancing with the lights of the Christmas tree. A bitter pang of nostalgia struck Ronan’s chest.

“Are you going to help us or just sulk the rest of the day, Ronan?” Blue asked shaking Ronan from his memories. Blue stretched a length of lights across the floor, pulling out knots and tangles as she went. Gansey meticulously sorted delicate ornaments into piles. 

“I’m not sulking,” Ronan’s voice trembled slightly, eliciting a questioning glance from Adam. “I’m pro actively boycotting this Christmas coup.”

“Jesus,” Gansey said from his bed. “I forgot the stockings. I knew I was forgetting something.” 

“I am not driving back to your parent’s house for some stockings,” Blue said, pointing a finger at Gansey.

Gansey pushed his thumb back and forth over his bottom lip. Ronan wondered how his lips never bruised from it. 

“I’ll go,” Adam said, looking up from the box he was sorting through. “Stockings are my favorite part of Christmas.” 

Ronan made a mental note to dream up the best stocking ever for Adam. 

“Look like it’s you and me, Lynch,” Blue said poking a sharp finger in his chest. 

Ronan swatted her hand away. “If you think I’m helping you with this damn atrocity, then you are badly mistaken, Shrimp.” 

Blue narrowed her dark eyes and with a huff, straightened the Santa hat on her head, little spikes of dark hair escaping from under the white fluff. “Fine. I don’t need your stupid help.”

Ronan reclined on the couch, a leg draped over his knee, watching Blue string lights on the branches of the tree. She looked like an elf. Ronan stifled laughter.

“Santa will be very proud of his little elf.” Ronan smirked, tugging at laces of his boots. 

A plush snowman hit Ronan square in the face. “Call me an elf again, and I’ll find something harder.” 

Ronan saluted Blue with a smirk, and she went back to decorating the tree. Ronan leaned back further on the couch, one leg now draped across the couch arm, watching Blue. She deftly wove strings of twinkling clear lights around the prickly green branches, until she reached the midpoint of the tree. 

Ronan couldn’t remember when Blue became more than an annoyance to him. He found himself fond of her spiky hair and snarky comments and the mischievous sparkle in her eye when she suggested they team up to pull a prank on Gansey or Adam. Now Blue was as important to him as Gansey and Adam, he wanted to protect her, but no one else needed to know that. 

Slowly Blue started to transform the giant tree into a glittering spectacle of lights and tinsel and ornaments. 

“Looking good, Maggot,” Ronan said nonchalantly, “But what about the top?” 

Where the bottom of the tree looked like a Christmas fairy threw up all over it, the top half was bare. Blue stood back, hands on her hips, tapping a foot. 

“Do you have a ladder?” 

“Nope.”

“Could you dream one up?” 

“Nope.” 

“Ronan!” 

“Maggot!” 

“Ugh! Ronan, you are so insufferable!” 

“You know you love me.”

“Debatable, and wipe that stupid grin off your face, dumbass.” 

“Looks like my vocabulary is rubbing off on you,” Ronan smirked. 

“Whatever. I’ll do it myself.” 

Blue began launching strings of lights into the air like flying strands of green spaghetti, grunting and muttering under her breath, each jump higher than the last until she looked like a ballerina trying to jump across the stage. With each jump the lights and tinsel touched the tree then feel unceremoniously to the floor. Ronan laughed and laughed. He laughed until tears started to stream down his cheeks. 

Blue threw a pillow at him.

“You,” Ronan said between laughs and gulps of air, “look like an elf on Dancing with the Stars.”

Blue stopped and crossed her arms across her chest, glaring at him. 

Ronan’s laughter started up fresh. “Now you look like an angry dancing elf.” 

“Don’t press your luck, Lynch.” Blue shoved a twisted bundle of lights into Ronan’s arms. “You do it.” 

Ronan raised an eyebrow. “I’m not decorating that tree. I never wanted Christmas decorations up.” 

“Do it for Gansey,” Blue said. “He wants this more than anything.” 

“Fuck that,” Ronan snorted. 

“Trust me, you’ll be sorry if you don’t do this.”

Ronan didn’t want to believe her, but the morose look on her face told him everything he needed to know.

“Fine, Elf, let’s do this.” Ronan reached out to Blue’s out stretched hand and stood from the couch, dragging the lights with him. 

“How in the world?” Blue asked, looking at Ronan in wonder as he easily intertwined lights and branches then sprinkled on tinsel and garland. 

“I’m a man of many talents,” Ronan shrugged still hanging garland on the tree. “Christmas was kind of a big deal at the Barns.” 

“Really? Tell me about it.” 

Ronan blew out a gust of air. He had never told anyone about his Christmases at the Barns. That memory was tucked away safely in his heart. 

“Christmas was my mom’s favorite holiday, which made it my dad’s favorite holiday. She said it was the wonder of it all. We would decorate a giant tree, kind of like this beast, and listen to carols. Then my mom would make each one of us dance with her and when it was all finished, we would sit around the tree telling stories and dreams and drinking the richest hot chocolate my dad could dream up with giant fluffy marshmallows.” Ronan’s voice trailed off. “It used to be my favorite holiday too.”

“That sounds nice,” Blue smiled, a far off look in her eyes. “Like something out of a movie.” 

“What about Christmas at 300 Fox Way?” 

“Eh. It wasn’t that big of a deal around our house. I mean, how can you surprise a house full of psychics with awesome Christmas gifts?” Blue chuckled. “I was the only one they could surprise.” 

“We put up a tree and decorated it with homemade ornaments, but it’s the parties I remember the most. Calla and Persephone made drinks that had people dancing and laughing too loud in ten seconds flat, and Mom made cider. They would crank up the music and everyone would dance through the house singing and cheering.”

“Sounds like my kind of party,” Ronan said adding the last ornament onto the tree. Blue nodded. 

Blue propped her hands on her hips, studying the tree. “It needs something.”

“One second.” Ronan went to his room and returned with a sparkling blue box.

He opened the box and handed Blue the heavy golden star with intricate cut out swirls and star bursts etched into the metal. 

“It’s beautiful,” Blue said admiring the tree topper.

“It was my mom’s.” Ronan whispered.

“How are we going to get it on top without a ladder?”

“You could crawl up the tree like the vicious squirrel you are.” Ronan grinned and winked. 

Ronan leaned to the side to avoid Blue’s right swing to his arm. 

“Come here.” Ronan said beckoning Blue with his hands. 

Blue arched an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Just come here.” 

Blue did and Ronan turned her around and gripped her tightly around her waist.

“Hey, wait just a minute-” 

And with a jerk, Ronan hoisted Blue into the air. Her eyes were level with the top of the tree. Blue carefully placed the star on the tree, and Ronan lowered her back to the ground. With a snap of his fingers, the star lit up, swirls of rainbow light shining out of the star. 

“Whoa. How did you do that?” Blue asked, eyes wide.

Ronan placed a finger on his lips and shushed Blue. “It’s our secret.”

When Gansey and Adam returned to Monmouth, Ronan and Blue were snuggled onto the couch, and a recently-appeared Noah crushed against Blue, petting her hair. Christmas carols softly played in the background. Steaming mugs of hot chocolate and cider warmed hands as they watched swirls of lights dance across Monmouth.

“It’s so pretty,” Noah whispered.

Blue muttered an agreement and held out her hand to Gansey. Gansey took her hand and wrapped an arm around her from over the back of the couch, resting his cheek on hers.

Adam hung the stockings on the wall and sat on the couch arm, pressing his side against Ronan. 

“Hope you didn’t get into too much trouble,” Adam whispered in his ear. 

“Oh the usual.” Ronan smiled and placed a kiss in Adam’s palm. 

“You did a magnificent job, Blue,” Gansey said.

“I couldn’t have done it without Ronan,” Blue said wrapping her arm around Ronan’s. 

Adam placed a kiss on the top of Ronan’s head. “Thank you,” he whispered. 

Ronan’s heart swelled and he smiled. A memory, not unlike this very moment, from long ago with dancing lights, Christmas carols, and family filled his thoughts. Maybe the tree wasn’t a bad idea after all.


End file.
